I Don't Even Know What It's Like

I don't know what it's like to have a 3 year old without Type One Diabetes.  I'm just learning now what it's like to have a 2 year old without Type One Diabetes since my youngest son just turned 2 and he doesn't have this disease.

However, my oldest son does have it. And everyday is a challenge. For any parent, the first born child is the "practice child" right? Where we learn to be parents and hone our skills.  However, we have such a major wrench thrown in our parenting plan because our "practice child" has an incurable disease and I personally have no idea whether the behaviors he exhibits are because of diabetes or because he's a pre-schooler.

Type One Diabetes keeps you guessing. All the time. It always makes me wonder if I'm doing enough for my kiddo and if I'm being the best mom possible.  With Type One Diabetes, there comes a definite lack of sleep. Today, it is so evident. Last night at 8:00pm, my oldest picked at the medical tape holding a device in place.  My husband and I had to replace said device and wait the two hour time frame to calibrate it with a drop of blood.  For this over-tired mama, I could barely keep my eyes open at 9:30, but the CGM wouldn't be ready for calibration until 10:00pm.  So, an alarm was set to wake up at 10:00pm and do a blood sugar check.  At this check, I saw that my son needed to get a boost of insulin to combat the high blood sugar.  So, I retrieved the insulin pump and administered insulin in the dark of his room.  Anytime I wake on my own during the night, I can't go back to sleep peacefully until I check the reading on the CGM to make sure my son is in a safe range. So, that's what happened at 1:37am when my youngest son cried out because he couldn't find his blankie in the dark.  Then at 3:30am, my oldest son cried out because he wanted the night-light turned back on.  Then at 4:57am, my youngest son cried out because he thought it was time to get up for the day.  Then at 5:30am, my youngest son really was up for the day since the CGM beeped that my oldest son's blood sugar was low and I had to go into their room to do a blood sugar check.

This disease affects all of us. Each member of this family struggles with lack of sleep, mostly attributed to Type One.

Today, I'm praying for a cure.


Until next time,
Much love, Reba